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Friday, November 29, 2013

All the work is done. The feast was prepared and enjoyed by
all. I know some of my friends and family are out hunting bargains in the
shopping chaos of Black Friday. I’m not that fond of shopping even under the
best of circumstances and just the thought of this sends chills down my spine.

Today’s
painting is for all of you who could use a vision of peace and quiet
relaxation. Hope you enjoy a happy, restful holiday weekend.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Recently,
while on Bailey Island in Maine, wild turkeys would periodically strut out of
the woods and parade back and forth through the backyard of the house we were
renting. One morning, these turkeys actually posed exactly like this long
enough for me to get photos.

Our turkey (not
either of the ones in the painting) is finally in the oven stuffed with
dressing. The gravy is simmering on the stove and most of the food is prepared
or on the way. Soon family and friends will sit together to share a feast. I
hope wherever you are, you enjoy a happy Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

My kids are home, my refrigerator is bursting with food,
with more on the way, and the sun is out. Although I’m not looking forward to
all of the food prep ahead of me (since I’m not at all domestic), I know it
will be fun since I will have plenty of helpers. There’s something wonderful
about a meal prepared with the people you love. There will be lots of opinions
about the best way to cook something, just as many compromises, lots of
laughter and lots of love…a true Thanksgiving harvest.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

It’s another gray day with the added attractive feature of
almost incessant rain.I decided I could
really use a little sunshine and warmth. Since the weather gods seem to be
ignoring my wishes, I created my version of a much nicer day in today’s
petite painting. Hope you enjoy.

Monday, November 25, 2013

It’s been a grey, cloudy, cold day here much like it was
this past August when I was on the Isle of Skye. They told us they were getting
weather in August that they normally didn’t get until late fall. I didn’t mind
because ever since I heard the name “Isle of Skye”, I knew I had to visit here.
And I wasn’t disappointed. The island is gorgeous and the people couldn’t have
been friendlier.

Today’s
painting is based on photos I was able to take in between rain showers. We were
fortunate in that the sun eventually came out on this beautiful island off the
coast of Scotland.

Friday, November 22, 2013

On this, the fiftieth anniversary of President John
Kennedy’s death, I thought of Dylan Thomas’ famous poem, “Do Not Go Gently Into That Good Night”.I’ve always loved that
poem and it seems to fit the day’s memorializing of JFK as well as providing me
with a title for today’s painting.

I was a
child when JFK died and I remember that the only thing that really registered
in my consciousness was that my birthday party, which I had so looked forward
to, was canceled. I was so unaware of the significance of JFK’s assassination
that I thought it had nothing to do with me. My lack of political awareness,
even at this young age, seems incredible to me now since my Dad had worked on
Kennedy’s campaign and we had a signed and framed photo of my Dad and JFK
shaking hands.Thanks to my Dad’s very patient
schooling of me I gradually became more savvy when it came to both local and
national politics. Sadly, I also grew to realize that on this day, fifty years
ago, there was a dying of a light.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

I love the whole idea of “artistic license”! It sounds like
we artists have permission to do almost anything. It sounds so tremendously
freeing… and in a way it is. In a sense, it’s also where the real work of
creativity comes in. My goal as a landscape artist is not to copy exactly from
any photos I might have(if that’s what
I’m working from). Instead I want to communicate to the viewer something of
what I might have felt from being in that environment. Or I might want to make
a landscape more interesting than what is conveyed in the photo.

Today’s
painting is an example of this. This painting is based on some photos I took on
a trip from Moncton in New Brunswick, Canada to Prince Edward Island. We passed
near some interesting marshes but the photos really didn’t convey this at all.So, I changed the course of the water to make
it look more like the beautiful turquoise ribbon of water I remember. I hope
you can feel the warmth of that sunny day and see the beautiful blue sky,
neither of which we had here today. Ahhh, I love artistic license!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Every once and a while you get lucky and have a camera or
paints available to capture that very brief, fleeting instance when the sun
catches the edges of clouds and you’re treated to a beautiful light show.

Today’s
painting is based on just such a moment. It was a cool summer night near Bailey
Island, Maine, one of my favorite places to visit. We had just finished a delicious
dinner of lobster and blueberry pie near a marina, when I stepped outside
hoping to get some good photos of sailboats coming in for the evening. Instead
I found that I had walked out just in time to capture that perfect moment when
the setting sun sets the clouds all aglow.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

What is it about the path, the curve in the road, or just
the idea of the open road, that is so enticing to some of us? I suspect that
some of us are simply more curious than others.For some people, a road is just a means to get to the grocery store or
get to work. For others it represents adventure and wonder and maybe just the
fun of discovering something new and different. I sometimes imagine that back
when humans were hunter-gatherers that there were probably always some people
who loved moving to new places and also probably drove the people who hated all
the migrating from one place to the other, just crazy! I would have been one of
those people who looked forward to migrating with the herds to some different
place with different views and colors and who knows what else.

Because I’m
one of the people who is really curious about a lot of things, I find paths, or
roads really interesting to paint. Like today’s painting, they represent the
next adventure to me. Which one are you? Are you the type of person that will
keep the home fires burning or are you one of us who are always wandering down
a path wondering what’s just past that curve?

Monday, November 18, 2013

Today is my birthday and therefore I’m in a pretty good
mood. I’m looking forward to a special dinner tonight, talking to my kids and
other family, and CAKE!!!! I’m crazy about cake!

I also have
to explain that I don’t just love my birthday; I also like my kids’
birthdays, my brothers’ and sisters’, and my friends’ birthdays. I enjoy any
change from the mundane and the ordinary. I enjoy being able to celebrate
others and make them feel special and loved. Of course, if we were all perfect
or at least better versions of ourselves, we wouldn’t do this only on special
occasions. However the reality is that it’s so easy to get distracted by the
routine stressors and demands in our life.

Birthdays
for me are also a time to remember what challenges I’ve met and what I’ve
accomplished during the year. Even more important to me is to reflect on what
I’m grateful for. I know I should be saving this for Thanksgiving but I’ve
never known anyone to suffer from feeling too much gratitude.

And so, on
this day, I feel very, very lucky for all of my friends and family…. and
because it just so happens to be a gorgeous sunny, fall day. I couldn’t ask for
anything more! Except for maybe cake!

Today’s
painting is based on a photo by Stan Sperlak, gifted painter and photographer
(used with permission). It’s another view of his Crow Creek Farm near Cape May,
New Jersey. You can tell it’s going to be a beautiful day.

Friday, November 15, 2013

What is it about sailboats that make them so appealing to
people? Maybe it’s because you can travel on the water without the loud sound
of an engine or the smell of diesel fuel?Maybe also since many of us live and work in or near cities, our lives
are full of engines and smog and pollution and you can operate a sailboat
without any of these.

Does sailing
take us back to a simpler time? Maybe, though it’s not easy to sail well and I
am a great example of that.I’m so often
entranced by the views that I forget to pay attention to the direction of the
wind. Maybe it’s a type of boating that really tests your skills because
really, even a middle school kid can operate a motorboat (not saying they
should), right?

However,
even to people that don’t sail, I think sailboats and paintings of them are
symbolic…perhaps of escape? Of romanticized adventures on the high seas? What
do you think?

Whatever
your opinion on this, although I grew up with mostly motorized fishing boats, I
love seeing and painting sailboats. I love the colors and shapes of them as
they glide across the water.

I picked
this painting to post today because in spite of the cool looking water, the sky
is sunny, warm, and cheerful… a welcome sight on this misty, cold, and dreary
day in Georgia. Today’s painting is based on photographs I took of sailboats
off the west coast of Washington. After all of the rest of the sailboats were
gone there was one sailor out on the water enjoying the last rays of the
setting sun. Happy Weekend!

Thursday, November 14, 2013

I’ve spent the day dealing with administrative duties so
it’s a great relief to turn back to art and color. Today’s painting is in some
ways connected to last night’s art class with Karen Margulis which was so much
fun!

We did minis
or as she has named them, “petite pastels”, which I think is a great name for
these small paintings. She had us all bring 10 small (2.5 x 3.5) assorted
pieces of paper. After her quick demo, we all put our paper in one pile, mixed
them up, and then took 10 out of the collection. Ideally, you got paper that
you might not be familiar with so that you could try it out. Then we all got to
work and had a lot of fun.

Karen had discussed
that one of the advantages of these petite pastels is the opportunity to
experiment with different subject matter or use them as small studies for a
larger painting. After a little initial trepidation, we got to work. When I
looked at everyone’s paintings, they were stunning! I saw small masterpieces painted
last night! We all agreed that when you reduced the pressure to produce a
masterpiece, and told yourself that you were just experimenting, we all felt
more comfortable painting. The end result I think was an increase in our
creativity.

This is one
of the many things that amazes me about creativity, and that is, the tremendous
sensitivity to emotional state or mind set. It’s also one of the reasons that sometimes
we artists can be our own worst enemy. But last night was also testament to
what tremendous potential we all have when someone frees us from pressure and
self doubt.

I will post
some of these petite pastels in future as I still have to set them up to be
photographed. In the meantime, I share with you a petite version of fall in a
Georgia state park.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Sometimes it’s fun to just paint and share what you love. Although
I think that most times my paintings benefit from a little aging or at least
some time for me to decide what they need, today’s painting comes fresh off the
easel. For some reason, I had a desire to paint and post a scene with dramatic
contrasts and color. Maybe it’s because I’m noticing my favorite colors are
disappearing all around me as my trees lose their leaves or because I just like
bold color and strong contrast anyway.

Today’s
painting is based on some photos of mine of Trinidad Beach State Park on the
California coast. This is a beautiful area and one I hope to visit again
sometime soon. We were having dinner at a restaurant on the beach and were
lucky enough to get a table by the window. I don’t remember anything at all
about the food but I do remember the gorgeous sunset over the water and how the
light made the small puddles in the sand shine. Although I was disappointed to
find that I’d forgotten my good camera, I was lucky enough to get a few shots
with my iPhone to remind me of that evening.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Art is transformative in so many ways. It’s transformative
for both the artist as well as the viewer. It can bring something out of you
that you never believed was possible. It can open your eyes to hidden beauty or
truth. It can make you view something ordinary as something extraordinary.

Art can
also transform your reality. My reality today was that I was going to work all
day and then go for my usual long run. I was kind of dreading the run today. I
kept hearing weather reports on how the temperature was going to drop 20
degrees during the time of my run with 40 mile per hour wind gusts…. not
exactly something to look forward to. In fact, I was getting cold just thinking
about this. So, I chose to focus on the painting I have posted today and felt
warmer every time I looked at it.

It is based
on one of my photos of a sunny, much warmer day. We were near an interesting
place called Cape Enrage (Isn’t that a great name for a place?), in New
Brunswick, Canada.At first it looked
like the marsh here was totally deserted but as we stood there, I noticed a
little movement out of the corner of my eye and suddenly there was a large heron
standing there. He or she seemed to be poised like we were…in quiet
contemplation of a beautiful view.

So this is where I have been today…in a manner of speaking. I
hope this work of art transforms your reality just a bit, as it did mine and
that maybe, you stay just a little warmer.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Today, after managing to work on multiple paintings I
fortunately was able to “harvest” one. I know harvest typically refers to the gathering
of ripe or mature grain, but sometimes it seems to apply equally to my
paintings. Some definitely benefit from aging…or maybe it’s me that ‘s aging? I
find that sometimes I need to give myself time away from a painting so that
when I come back I can see what it most needs in order to be finished.

Given this
past weekend of glorious color, this one seemed perfect for today. It won’t be
long until the gorgeous trees in my neighborhood as well as in the countryside
completely lose their leaves; some have done so already. Every fall I hope for
the impossible…that the colors will stay vivid for months.But they don’t and so every time I see colors
like the ones that inspired this painting, I feel so lucky.